"Unfortunately, for a lot of varying reasons, Sandman is not in the works, at least for this season," Kripke told the industry trade.

Apparently, the TV writer had gone so far as to meet with Gaiman (who recently inked a deal himself to pen screenplays based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West") and discuss the potential series. “When I saw [Gaiman], I said, ‘Just so you know, I rip you off all the time for the show,’ and he said, ‘I really appreciate that because you and Kevin Smith have both been very public about ripping me off, and I don’t mind if people rip me off, I just want them to be public and admit it,’ ” Kripke recalled.